Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Dramatised)

Smiley, wrestling with retirement and disillusionment, is summoned to a secret meeting with a member of the Cabinet Office. Evidence has emerged that the Circus has been infiltrated at the highest level by a Russian agent. 'Find the mole, George. Clean the stables. Do whatever is necessary.' Reluctantly Smiley agrees, and so embarks on a dark journey into his past a past filled with love, duplicity and betrayal.

I have the Listen for Pleasure releases of the John LeCarre Smiley series on cassette. Bad assumption on my part that these dramatizations would be comparable. If you love the John LeCarre series of Smiley books. Don't listen to these, they'll put you completely off the genre! This is the first Audible selection that I actually deleted out of my library.

Finding Moon

Until the telephone call came for him on April 12, 1975, the world of Moon Mathias had settled into a predictable routine. He knew who he was. He was the disappointing son of Victoria Mathias, the brother of the brilliant, recently dead Ricky Mathias and a man who could be counted on to solve small problems. But the telephone caller was an airport security officer, and the news he delivered handed Moon a problem as large as Southeast Asia. His mother, who should be in her Florida apartment, is fighting for her life in a Los Angeles hospital - stricken while en route to the Philippines to bring home a grandchild they hadn't known existed.

Cold Vengeance

Devastated by the discovery that his wife, Helen, was murdered, Special Agent Pendergast must have retribution. But revenge is not simple. As he stalks his wife's betrayers-a chase that takes him from the wild moors of Scotland to the bustling streets of New York City and the darkest bayous of Louisiana - he is also forced to dig further into Helen's past. And he is stunned to learn that Helen may have been a collaborator in her own murder.

What made the experience of listening to Cold Vengeance the most enjoyable?

Rene Auberjonois performance brings this novel to life. His portrayals of the characters are distinct without being melodramatic or odd.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

The complexity of the plot was engaging, pulling you in like the quicksand described in the bogs.

Any additional comments?

I was disappointed that after investing 11 hours and 50-odd minutes into the book, it just unceremoniously stops. I understand that this is a series, but there was no closure to the plot threads that had been developed. I would have rated it much higher had it satisfied my appetite.

The Last Lecture

When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn't have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave - "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" - wasn't about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because "time is all you have... and you may find one day that you have less than you think").

Randy Pauch was a gifted speaker. Before downloading The Last Lecture as an audible book, I'd seen the video of his presentation. Even if you listen to the book, you should acquire the video and watch it. The narrator of the book is good and possibly presents the book better than Randy himself would have, but to get in touch with the real Randy Pauch, you should view the video. Then, the audio book will be even better.

Freakonomics: Revised Edition

Steven D. Levitt is not a typical economist. He is a much-heralded scholar who studies the riddles of everyday life, from cheating and crime to sports and child-rearing, and whose conclusions turn the conventional wisdom on its head. Thus the new field of study contained in this audiobook: Freakonomics. Levitt and co-author Stephen J. Dubner show that economics is, at root, the study of incentives: how people get what they want, or need, especially when other people want or need the same thing.

I listened to Freakonomics while driving to and from work. While I found it interesting, I didn't find myself engaged in the reading of the book or its content. Frankly, based on its rating, I expected more.

The Secret Pilgrim (Dramatised)

Simon Russell Beale stars in this BBC Radio full-cast dramatisation of John le Carré’s last Smiley novel.George Smiley is one of the most brilliantly realised characters in British fiction. Bespectacled, tubby, eternally middle-aged and deceptively ordinary, he has a mind like a steel trap and is said to possess ‘the cunning of Satan and the conscience of a virgin'.

I got this book along with Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and was extremely disappointed. I have the same books released by Listen for Pleasure Ltd. on cassette that are far superior. These dramatizations are incomplete and don't tell the LeCarre stories well at all. I deleted after listening--along with Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. For me that is the lowest of the low. Go find a good reading of LeCarre books and don't waste your time with this.

A Widow for One Year

Ruth Cole is a complex, often self-contradictory character — a "difficult" woman. Her story is told in three parts, each focusing on a crucial time in her life. When we first meet her, Ruth is only four. The second window into Ruth's life opens when she is an unmarried woman whose personal life is not nearly as successful as her literary career. The novel closes in the autumn of 1995, when Ruth is a 41-year-old widow and mother — and about to fall in love for the first time.

I downloaded this John Irving novel after having read many of his books years ago. I jumped in with this recent novel and found it to be the John Irving that I read years ago. The style and motif are the same and I was not disappointed. The narration in this case was good, but not great. I think I'd have appreciated it more if it had been dramatized, not just narrated.

I love John Irving's books (and authors) inside books. And he takes it one degree further in A Widow for One Year. I just couldn't bring myself to give this selection five stars though.

A Son of the Circus

Born a Parsi in Bombay, sent to university and medical school in Vienna, Dr. Farrokh Daruwalla is a 59-year-old orthopedic surgeon and a Canadian citizen who lives in Toronto. Once, 20 years ago, Dr. Daruwalla was the examining physician of two murder victims in Goa, India. Now, 20 years later, he will be reacquainted with the murderer.

I love John Irving and if you do, you know what's contained in his novels. Novels inside novels, writers, unusual sexual relationships, and a complete story. Having read many, but not all of John Irving's books, I found the story and themes contained in this lengthy book consistent with his other writings. The narration and characterization was excellent and helped carry the story. About Part III I got a little bored because John Irving stretched this one out a bit far--there were sections of the book that didn't contribute to the overall story at all--but then for entertainment, I guess that's ok. If this were Garp or Owen Meany, I think it would have rated five stars instead. The narrator was great, it was the story that was slow or too lengthy.

Dexter Is Delicious

Dexter is experiencing some major life changes - don't we all? And they're mostly wrapped up in the eight-pound curiosity that is his newborn daughter. Family bliss is cut short, however, when Dexter is summoned to investigate the disappearance of a 17-year-old girl who has been running with a bizarre group of goths who fancy themselves to be vampires. As Dexter gets closer to the truth of what happened to the missing girl, he realizes they are not really vampires so much as cannibals.

If you gotta be bent to love Dexter, then I'm bent. I got hooked on Showtime's Dexter and during hiatus I bought the first two books. I read them in a matter of days. Then, I signed up for Audible and Dexter books were some of my first purchases. Well worth the $/credits. The stories are full on Dexter, but diverge from the storyline on the TV series, so you are never sure where Jeff is going to take us next. There's actually more depth to Dexter's charater in the books than on TV and the humor is even more pronounced than on TV.

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary

Featuring David Sedaris's unique blend of hilarity and heart, this new collection of keen-eyed animal-themed tales is an utter delight. Though the characters may not be human, the situations in these stories bear an uncanny resemblance to the insanity of everyday life.

The voicing of this book was great. The stories were produced and dramatized nicely, but the meaning of the stories went over my head--if there were deeper meanings there. I might try another Sedaris book, but I'm not going out of my to go looking for it.

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